


Red

by myth_taken



Series: Denial 101 [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8018248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myth_taken/pseuds/myth_taken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Warren doesn't shoot Tara. Willow thinks Buffy is dead and loses it. Tara has to calm her down. Major season six spoilers. Rated teen for discussion of death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red

**Author's Note:**

> i am still amazed that the bullet hit tara in canon. it's barely even scientifically possible, if at all. it's so implausible. like, i know my plot might not seem realistic, but it's more realistic than that bullet hitting tara. i'm angry and i like this au a lot. keep tara alive kids she deserved better

Tara and Willow stood, staring at each other, both smiling, in Willow’s bedroom. Tara took a step closer, and then Willow took a step closer, and then they heard gunshots.

“What’s going on?” Willow asked, running to the window. Tara followed, and they both watched Xander ease a limp body to the ground. 

“Buffy,” Tara breathed.

“No!” Willow screamed. She ran down the stairs and into the garden, Tara on her heels. “Who did this?” she cried to Xander.

“Warren. Came with a gun.”

“I think we heard the gun part,” Tara said. 

Willow drew herself up to her most menacing posture. Her eyes darkened. “He has to pay.”

Tara threw her arms around Willow. “You can’t do this.”

“I can,” Willow intoned, “and I will.” 

Tara’s arms tightened around nothing. Willow had disappeared. 

She looked at Xander. “Is Buffy okay?”

“I’ve called an ambulance. She’s not dead yet.”

“I’m going after Willow. There’s nothing I can do here.”

“Okay.” 

Tara turned away.

“Tara?”

She turned back. “Yeah?” 

“Be careful, okay?”

Tara gave as much of a smile as she could. “I have to help her.”

Tara walked away as the ambulance wailed its way to the front of the house.

She didn’t know where to look first. She knew Willow was where Warren was, but she didn’t know where Warren was. 

Her first thought was the safe house, but she had seen the sliced in half books and the Buffy who had barely avoided that same fate. There was no way Warren would go back. The Magic Box? Willow would go there for advice, maybe, and books. But by the time Tara got there, Willow would have gotten what she needed and left. Did Willow even know where Warren was? Probably not. But she would find out, and when she did, Warren was a dead man.

Magic. Spell. If Willow was using magic, so would Tara. She ran to the Magic Box as fast as she could, which was still too slow, but that was okay. When she walked in, she was confronted with a table full of empty pages. She looked up at Anya, who was bedraggled and shocked. 

“Did Willow come through here?” Tara asked.

“Yeah, she’s had a bit of a makeover. And she’s gotten into the dark magic books. You might want to go calm her down.”

“That’s the plan,” Tara answered. “Someone’s got to help her get better. I just need to do a locator spell.”

“Well, you’ll find most basic ingredients over there.” Anya pointed. “And the--”

“I know.” Tara headed over to the shelves. 

A few minutes later, Tara had found Warren on a map, and she pocketed the leftover ingredients and began her walk. Perhaps she was too late, but at least she was trying. She had helped Willow get off her magic habit before, and she could do it again.

She kept the map in her hands, but after about ten minutes, Warren disappeared from it. Tara sighed, sat down in the middle of the sidewalk, and performed the spell again, this time targeting Willow, not Warren. Willow appeared in the same spot, and Tara kept walking, until Willow started moving, and then she hopped to a completely different location. Tara walked in that direction, but it was clear she’d need something faster. She glanced around, and she noticed a bicycle standing without a lock nearby.

Quickly, she ripped a fragment of paper from her map, wrote, “I’m sorry,” on it, and set off on the bicycle, which was too small for her. It went faster than she could walk, though, and that was good enough.

She found Willow outside a jail, ready to blow it apart. She ran up to her, put her hands on Willow’s shoulders, and looked at her in earnest. “Willow,” she said, “you can’t do this.”

Willow stared at her. “I can.”

“No, Willow. You have to stop killing people, okay? Buffy’s not dead.”

Willow backed away. “She’s not?”

“No. She’s alive.”

Willow’s face softened for a moment, then returned to her stony expression. “Warren still wanted to kill her.”

“But he didn’t, and now he’s gone.” Tara’s hands slid down Willow’s arms to grab Willow’s hands. “Those two up there are nothing without him. They were the Trio or whatever, and the Duo isn’t up to nearly as much. Please, Willow. Come home.”

Willow shook her head, and Tara caught a flash of fear on her face. “I can’t.” She ripped her hands out of Tara’s and turned back to the jail. Tara watched in horror as bricks began falling out. She stepped in front of Willow again.

“You can,” she said. “I know you. You’re strong, Willow. You’re strong enough to do this, but you’re also strong enough to stop. Willow, please stop.”

Willow lunged forward and kissed Tara, and the power crackled between them, an electric shock. 

Tara backed away. “No. Willow. You have to stop.”

“I can’t stop. They tried to kill Buffy. I have to kill them.”

Tara held out her hands, creating a magical wall between Willow and the jail. “You don’t.”

Willow waved a hand, and the wall dissipated. “I’m sorry, Tara.” She waved her hand again, and Tara was gently lifted and placed to the side, as if a giant hand had decided to pick her up and place her somewhere else. That was the last gentle thing, though, as Willow marched towards the jail. Bricks continued disappearing from the wall, and then Anya appeared right next to Tara. 

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Tara said. “Keep talking to her?”

She called out to Willow. “What are you doing? Who are you becoming?” She walked right up to Willow. “I love Willow Rosenberg. I love the girl who is kind, and cares, and who is powerful enough to stop herself from doing this. Are you that girl?”

Willow stepped back. Her eyes turned back to a normal color. “Am I?” She looked around. “Is this something that girl would do?”

“It is if you stop yourself,” Tara said. “This isn’t working, WIllow.”

Willow nodded. “I-- I’m not sure I can stop, Tara,” she said. Tears started running down her face. “I’ve started, and now I can’t stop, and I’m scared.”

“It’s okay, I’ll-- I’ll call Giles. He can help. Don’t you think?”

Willow nodded again. She sank to her knees. She cried.

Tara sunk down and held her. “I know. I know it’s hard.” She called over her shoulder to Anya. “Anya? Call Giles. Tell him what’s happened.”

“I already know.” Giles’s voice came from behind Willow. Tara looked up.

“Can you help her?” Tara asked, tears running down her own face now. “Please?”

Giles nodded. “Willow?”

Willow stood up and turned to face Giles.

“Are you willing to come with me?”

“Where?” 

“I want to take you to a retreat. I will rehabilitate you, but only if you want the help.”

“I do want it,” Willow said.

“Can I come?” Tara asked.

Giles raised his eyebrows. “It may be dangerous.”

“I want to help.”

“You will have to live off-site, and seeing Willow might be too dangerous.”

“It’s worth it,” Tara said. “It’s Willow.”

The next day, Tara found herself sitting next to Willow on a plane to London. Willow was holding her hand tighter than she had ever before, and Tara was trying to be as gentle as possible with every word. 

“Wish I could magic myself some better food,” Willow complained. Her hair  was still dark, but she was getting noticeably better.

“Me, too,” Tara said. “Probably shouldn’t, though. Someone might notice.”

Once they got to the retreat, they kissed goodbye, and by the time Tara saw Willow again, her hair was red.


End file.
